“We are going in to fight side by side with our people in Rojava,” the Office of General Hussein Yazdanpanah, commander-in-chief of the Kurdistan Freedom Party (PAK), told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday.
“We are in negotiations with the relevant parties in Rojava. We are working to find a mechanism to transport logistics and soldiers to be immediately deployed in Rojava.”
The Office of General Yazdanpanah criticised Western inaction regarding the rapidly deteriorating situation for the Kurds in Syria, continuing: “Rojava will fall if we Kurds don’t consider their struggle as ours.”
It added that it appears Tom Barrack, the special envoy of the President of the United States, has traded away his obligations, responsibilities, and moral commitments for a set of interests that ultimately tarnish the reputation of his own country.
In a similar fashion, Yazdanpanah posted on X: “Ahmad al-Shara’s attacks on Kurds destroy the credibility of the US, France, and Israel,” adding that their inaction is “strengthening ISIS and diverting attention from Iran’s killing of 15–20K protesters.”
Murat Karaylan, a senior leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), said Kurdish fighters from Turkey would “never abandon” the Kurds in Syria, adding, “Whatever the cost, we will never leave you alone.” He also strongly condemned Western inaction, going further by accusing international powers of permitting the attacks and calling it a “black mark” on the United States, Britain, Germany, and France.
The French philosopher and public intellectual Bernard-Henri Lévy issued a statement describing the treatment of the Kurdish-led SDF as a historic moral failure. On his social media platform X on January 20, 2026, he wrote: “The betrayal of the Kurds by the West is one of the most disturbing shifts of our time,” reminding the world of the crucial role played by SDF fighters in defeating ISIS.
Social media platforms have been flooded with messages of support and solidarity with the Kurds in Syria. Accounts with massive followings from Israel, the US, the UK, France, and Germany have voiced their support for the Kurds. In addition, large numbers of Iraqi Arabs, Druze, Alawites, and Lebanese Christians have also come out in solidarity with Rojava.
Kurdish groups launch #DefendRojava campaign
Meanwhile, Kurdish groups from all four parts of Kurdistan (Syria, Iraq, Iran, and Turkey) and the diaspora have launched a global campaign under the hashtag #DefendRojava. They have called for “global rallies,” urging people to stand with the Kurds.
In the Kurdish regions of Iraq and Turkey, young Kurds have reportedly attempted to break through border barriers to make their way to help defend their brothers and sisters in Rojava. As Israeli TV presenter Laura Cellier put it, this is “reminiscent of when young Jews flew into Israel from all over the world after October 7, and of when Druze crossed over into Sweida.”
Widespread protests erupted across Kurdistan and the diaspora, demanding an end to Syrian Arab Army attacks on Kurdish territories. Mosques across Syria’s Kurdish region played Kurdish patriotic traditional songs to raise morale among terrified civilians, reminding them that this is “the battle of Rojava.”
The widespread mobilization, which spanned from Erbil to Bochum, Germany, signals rising fear and anger within the Kurdish community over what activists describe as an unfolding campaign of ethnic cleansing in Rojava. Demonstrations are planned worldwide, including one in Tel Aviv on January 21, organised by the Jewish-Kurdish Committee outside the Turkish Embassy in Israel.
In Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan Region, a massive demonstration gathered in front of the United States Consulate General. Protesters waving Kurdish flags chanted slogans against oppression and expressed “strong disappointment” with the Trump administration’s deafening silence. They accused the US administration of betraying the SDF and allowing Syrian forces and their affiliated jihadi militias to invade Kurdish territories, committing massacres against civilians, including women and children.
Turkey, the main backer of the Islamist Arab-led government in Damascus, is also home to more than 22 million Kurds, making the environment there resemble a “ticking bomb” waiting to explode. The Turkish government’s official response - warning that it would not tolerate any “provocations” - indicates pressure stemming from the possibility of spillover effects.
Despite the geographical divide between Kurdish communities in Syria, Iraq, Iran, and Turkey, Kurds have historically relied on one another in times of hardship. For example, when the Kurdish region of Iraq came under existential threat following the Kurdish independence referendum in 2017, Kurdish fighters, including General Hussein Yazdanpana’s Kurdistan National Army, deployed to assist their Kurdish brothers and sisters in the Autonomous Kurdish Region of Iraq, known to Kurds as Başûr.
What is currently happening inside Syria in the post-Assad period, including the butchering of ethnic minorities, is unsustainable. If it is not halted, it will lead to disastrous consequences, with spillover effects impacting regional security, particularly in Syria’s neighbouring countries: Israel, Iraq, Lebanon, Turkey, and Iran.
Suzan Quitaz is a Kurdish-Swedish journalist and researcher on Middle Eastern affairs. She was an Israel-based journalist and podcast presenter for the Arabic and English series Exposing the Lies – The Voice of Truth from the Middle East at the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs. She previously worked as a field producer and journalist at a number of Qatari media outlets.